This marks the end of an 18-year journey for the company after Blu-ray became commercially available to the masses in 2006. It follows a decision to end production of recordable B

It's another sore day for physical media fans. After an 18-year run, the media giant is leaving the Blu-ray game.

Globally, the writing is on the wall for the trusty disc. Sales of DVDs has continued on a steep decline over the years; Best Buy has stopped stocking DVDs; and Redbox machines are now just worth their value in scrap metal. In gaming, of course, companies including Microsoft are pushing hard on streaming gameplay over the internet.

Sony has announced it will discontinue the manufacture of Blu-ray discs, a format it invented and championed, setting the stage for the possible imminent end of the optical format. As the world has embraced streaming in recent years, Blu-ray sales have declined sharply, paving the way for Sony’s decision.

Fans of physical media—myself included—tend to be a morbid bunch, dwelling on the rise of streaming while bemoaning the steady decline of Blu-ray, the home-media format of choice for cinephiles. So when word came down that Sony will exit the recordable Blu-ray market next month,